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Local lawmakers in Lockhart, Texas have officially placed a marijuana decriminalization initiative on the ballot<\/a>\u2014reaching a compromise with activists after the city attorney attempted to revise the proposal in a way that supporters worried would face legal challenges and potentially upend the reform.<\/p>\n Advocates with Ground Game Texas and the Mano Amiga Responsible Implementation (MARI) turned in signatures to qualify the cannabis initiative for ballot placement late last month. But members of the Lockhart City Council were presented with alternative language that would\u2019ve broken the measure up into 13 separate questions that voters would\u2019ve had to individually decide on at the ballot.<\/p>\n Following a hearing on Monday, however, there was an agreement to reach a compromise, with the council approving a revised version of the Lockhart Freedom Act in a 6-1 vote that maintains its core language in a singular form.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the start, this ballot initiative has been a community effort,\u201d Catina Voellinger, Ground Game Texas executive director, said in a press release on Tuesday. \u201cLast night, Lockhart citizens engaged in the democratic process by telling their local representatives that the language at the ballot must be clear and easily understood. City Council has heeded those demands in putting marijuana decriminalization on the ballot as a single proposition. Ground Game Texas is excited to support our coalition partners as we work to get out the vote this November.\u201d<\/p>\n Elle Cross, Mano Amiga Responsible Implementation campaign director, said advocates are \u201cappreciative to the city for responding to the concerns of Lockhart citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWith over 45 minutes of public comment in favor of more clear ballot language, it is clear that true democracy must be honored,\u201d Cross said<\/a>. \u201cThis whole initiative is about people power\u2014and if our community hadn\u2019t shown up, the amendment might have appeared on the ballot as 13 separate propositions. We look forward to seeing folks at the polls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Ahead of the vote, Ground Game Texas sounded the alarm about the potential fragmentation of the measure under the proposal pushed by City Attorney Brad Bullock.<\/p>\n Cross said in a press release on Monday that it was \u201ccrucial we fight back against any attempt to undermine our collective voice.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe must stand united to ensure our initiative is presented as one measure on the ballot, respecting the will of the voters and maintaining the integrity of our democratic process,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Mike Siegel, Ground Game Texas general counsel, said the legislative staff proposal was \u201cboth anti-democratic and illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the City Secretary\u2019s decision to certify the Lockhart Freedom Act petition, the City Council has a ministerial, nondiscretionary duty to place the Lockhart Freedom Act on the ballot,\u201d he said. \u201cThe staff proposal to break the Lockhart Freedom Act into thirteen pieces would exceed the authority of the City Council and violate the will of the voters who signed a single petition for a comprehensive marijuana enforcement policy.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, voters in the Texas cities of Dallas<\/a> and Bastrop<\/a> will also decide on local marijuana decriminalization initiatives this fall.<\/p>\n Numerous marijuana decriminalization measures have already been enacted in cities across the Lone Star state in recent years, including Austin<\/a>,\u00a0Denton, Elgin, Harker Heights, Killeen and San Marcos<\/a>. They generally prevent police from making arrests or issuing citations for Class A or B misdemeanor cannabis possession offenses, unless it\u2019s part of a high priority felony investigation for narcotics or violent crime.<\/p>\n Advocates also scored another win in San Marcos last month after a Texas district judge dismissed a lawsuit from the state\u2019s Republican attorney general<\/a>\u00a0that sought to overturn a local decriminalization ordinance in that city.<\/p>\n Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) filed a lawsuit in January challenging local decriminalization laws that were enacted in five cities<\/a>: Austin, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin and Denton. A\u00a0different district judge had overturned the suit in Austin<\/a> in June.<\/p>\n Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has separately lashed out against the municipal cannabis reform efforts.<\/p>\n \u201cLocal communities such as towns, cities and counties, they don\u2019t have the authority to override state law,\u201d\u00a0the governor said in May<\/a>\u00a0\u201cIf they want to see a different law passed, they need to work with their legislators. Let\u2019s legislate to work to make sure that the state, as a state, will pass some of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n He said it would lead to \u201cchaos\u201d and create an \u201cunworkable system\u201d for voters in individual cities to be \u201cpicking and choosing\u201d the laws they want abide by under state statute.<\/p>\n Abbott has previously said that he\u00a0doesn\u2019t believe people should be in jail over marijuana possession<\/a>\u2014although he mistakenly suggested at the time that Texas had already enacted a decriminalization policy to that end.<\/p>\n Paxton had used more inflammatory rhetoric when his office announced that it was suing the five cities over their local laws decriminalizing marijuana, vowing to overrule the \u201canarchy\u201d of \u201cpro-crime extremists\u201d who advocated for the reform.<\/p>\n Shortly after voters in Harker Heights approved their measure, the city council overturned the ordinance over concerns that it conflicted with state law. But\u00a0activists collected signatures for another initiative<\/a>\u00a0and successfully repealed the repeal last year\u2014though officials have still refused to move forward with implementing the will of voters.<\/p>\n In November, Ground Game released a report that\u00a0looked at the impacts of the marijuana reform laws<\/a>. It found that the measures will keep hundreds of people out of jail, even as they have led to blowback from law enforcement in some cities. The initiatives have also driven voter turnout by being on the ballot, the report said.<\/p>\n Another\u00a0cannabis decriminalization measure that went before voters in San Antonio<\/a>\u00a0last May was overwhelmingly defeated, but that proposal also included unrelated provisions to prevent enforcement of abortion restrictions.<\/p>\n \u2014 At the state-level last year, the Texas House of Representatives passed a series of bills to decriminalize marijuana, facilitate expungements and allow chronic pain patients to access medical cannabis as an opioid alternative. But\u00a0they ultimately stalled out in the Senate<\/a>, which has been a theme for cannabis reform measures in the conservative legislature over several sessions.<\/p>\n The House\u00a0passed similar cannabis decriminalization proposals<\/a>\u00a0during the past two legislative sessions, in 2021 and 2019.<\/p>\n Separately, a Texas Democratic senator brought the issue of marijuana legalization to the Senate floor last May, seeking to attach to an unrelated resolution an amendment that would\u2019ve allowed Texans to vote on ending prohibition at the ballot box. But\u00a0the symbolic proposal was ultimately shut down<\/a>. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) agreed to another member\u2019s point of order, deeming the cannabis amendment not germane to the broader legislation.<\/p>\n Three in five Texans, including a plurality of Republicans,\u00a0support legalizing marijuana, according to a survey released in May<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another poll released in 2022 found that nearly\u00a0three in four Texas voters (72 percent) support decriminalizing marijuana<\/a>. More than half (55 percent), meanwhile, said they\u2019re in favor of broader legalization. Seventeen percent said it shouldn\u2019t be legal at all.<\/p>\n Last March, the same institution similarly showed that a majority of Texas voters feel that\u00a0the state\u2019s marijuana laws should be \u201cless strict.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Nevada Supreme Court Allows State Pharmacy Board To Keep Marijuana In Schedule I Despite Legalization<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis \/\/ Side Pocket Images.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Lockhart, Texas Puts Marijuana Decriminalization On Ballot After City Officials Allegedly Sought To Undermine Reform<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Local lawmakers in Lockhart, Texas have officially placed a marijuana decriminalization initiative on the ballot\u2014reaching a compromise with activists after the city attorney attempted to revise the proposal in a way that supporters worried would face legal challenges and potentially upend the reform. Advocates with Ground Game Texas and theContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":77215,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77214"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77214"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77216,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77214\/revisions\/77216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Lockhart, Texas Puts Marijuana Decriminalization On Ballot After City Officials Allegedly Sought To Undermine Reform<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"